What is ASMR - Curing postpartum insomnia and relaxing

After giving birth, the thing I thought I'd need to worry about most was my baby's sleep. Turns out I would worry about my own sleep much more.

Not because I got so little of it, as is to be expected when having a baby, oh no. Because I couldn't fall asleep once my baby was asleep.

She'd be sleeping soundly for more than an hour and I'd still be lying awake, unable to fall asleep. Can you imagine the stress that puts on you? You know you only get a short burst of sleep and now you are lying here wasting it.

That is when I found ASMR videos on YouTube.

What is ASMR you wonder? Nothing weird, I promise!

Have you ever gone to the hairdresser for a haircut and while having your hair washed, you suddenly felt completely relaxed with a wave of tingles running through your body? That feeling of Ahhhhhhhhhhh as your eyes close and your shoulders relax?

That feeling, THAT is ASMR.

Now imagine being able to experience that feeling any time you wanted to. For free! You don't have to arrange for a babysitter, get an appointment close to baby's nap time and fork out a fortune on a haircut. You can feel totally relaxed, at home.

To go into technical detail; ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response and is linked to Auditory-tactile synesthesia where certain sounds and words can trigger a tactile response in the body, giving you a feeling of euphoria.

There is a whole YouTube community of content creators that use various audio and visual stimulus to trigger this response in people and they are know as ASMR artists.

Using top of the line audio equipment, they create themed videos such as Hairdresser tutorials, Massage and Aromatherapy tutorials and many more for you to experience via your phone or computer and by using earphones.

A popular trigger for many people is a light trigger, where they recreate a Cranial Nerve Exam and have you follow a light. It's probably the only time in your life that going to the doctor would be relaxing.

You almost never make it to the end of a video because the complete state of relaxation the videos put you in, has you falling asleep only minutes into a video.

There are also guided meditations and many more content to suit your individual triggers. All you have to do is enter the word ASMR into YouTube or include it in your search description e.g. ASMR Haircut.

It might feel weird at first, since the content is created in a way that makes you feel part if the video, with the creator addressing you and asking you questions as if in a real consultation. Just give it a try and I am sure you'll be back to thank me later. (After your good nights rest)